Our Family’s 20th Birthday

A year ago my folks told me it was time to get my wedding dress out of their basement. It had been there 19 years, so they had a point. When I drove the dress home I told everyone, “I’m putting that on for our 20th Anniversary!”

And I did! Our anniversary is the 23rd, but we have other plans on the actual day so a week early we celebrated our 20 years together.

Rory and Ivar built me this porch swing, a total surprise when I walked down the stairs. It’s made out of wood from Ash trees from our farm that were milled at the fair. I was thrilled.

Hattie and Elias led us to our table. Alden decorated the wagon with colorful flowers and pulled Abel, our wedding album and a gift from Elias. Elias built us a one-of-a-kind bookshelf made with scrap lumber and SO MUCH LOVE. You can see him holding his hand on it below.

Elsie worked so hard on the meal. She made homemade egg noodles, but since I can’t have gluten, she made another pasta dish with noodles for me. Same with the bread- her homemade sourdough for dad, and g-free for mom. And Hattie did the same with the cake! Two different cakes to accommodate us both. It was a really big undertaking to make such a meal for us!

This is my favorite picture from the night. The boys gelled their hair, wore their matching shirts and Abel kept asking, “You getting married?!! You getting married?” Yep. I’d marry your dad every single day for the rest of my life.

There were conversation starter questions the girls had created and left on the table, in case we couldn’t think of anything to discuss after 20 years. And then the individual fancy desserts came out, made by Hattie.

What a wonder marriage is. If twenty years ago that bride and groom knew all we know now, they wouldn’t have believed one bit of it. Farming? SIX kids! Growing your own food?!! Hosting an fair? Writing books! Speaking at Homemaker Conferences?!! and Homesteading Festivals! and HOMESCHOOLING?!!

But you know, maybe they would have believed it. Because they were fun enough to have swedish folk dancing, accordions and 500 dilly bars at their reception. And they were ready for adventure and ready for God to lead.

And lead He did! And continues to do.